


to be a family

by MakerOfAnarchy



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Daddy!Crisscolfer, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 02:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakerOfAnarchy/pseuds/MakerOfAnarchy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts when Chris stumbles across some interesting magazines under their daughter’s bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	to be a family

**Author's Note:**

> They have a teenaged daughter named Natasha.

He had just been cleaning -- tidying up the house because living with a sixteen year old girl and Darren left their house constantly messy.

One might think that he would hate cleaning – he hates being compared to a girl after all, and that’s the first thing people do when they hear that he cleans on his spare time. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about having a clean house that he won’t go stir crazy in the days he works from home.  There’s something about seeing a dirty piece of laundry on the floor next to his feet as he works that makes it incapable for him to complete a sentence, let alone a page of writing.

So he sets aside his laptop, turns on the radio and cleans, singing and dancing as he wipes stuff down and vacuums. Natasha’s room is constantly like a warzone, books and CD’s all over the floor and desks at time, so that’s where he starts. He doesn’t know how he got such a messy daughter, but he always makes sure to clear out trash from underneath her bed, and this time is the same.

He reaches his hand under, grabs out some candy and PopTarts wrappers and throws those away and then goes back, closes his hand over something glossy. Chris pulls it out, thinking it’s another wrapper until he looks down and – oh, not a wrapper at all.

Instead he’s looking at a magazine. Not just, like, Vogue or something – no. He’s holding in his hands a glossy, thin magazine of _girls_.

Women.

In very, very compromising positions.

At first he is so shocked that he just stares. He curiously opens the magazine and flips through the pictures, noting all of the different positions and the truly creative ways some of the girls are splayed. The common denominator seems to be that they all have _extremely_ large breasts, and that’s when it hits Chris exactly just what he’s doing.

He drops the magazine like it’s on fire and scoots away, sets his head on his knees. He’d just been flipping through a _porn_ magazine that his _daughter_ owns and Chris covers his mouth, tries not to puke.

He wants to say “ _This is not what I signed up for_ ,” but really, it kind of is. When he’d decided to be a parent he’d decided to _be_ a parent, and dammit, he’s going to do it well.

But this is so, so far out of his league.

He and Darren had not even discussed the possibility of their daughter’s sexuality, for a lot of reasons. Mainly because it’s not really their business until she _makes_ it their business but having it right there in front of his face, less than six inches away, it is suddenly all he can think about.

How long has she known?

Is she lesbian, or bi, or something else on the spectrum of sexuality Chris never even thinks about?

Is she like Darren? Or is she struggling?

Why didn’t she tell them?

Have they made it unclear that she can talk to them about anything?

Oh god, what if Darren knew and he didn’t and he’s just been blind and their daughter had been scared to talk to him what if she doesn’t trust him what if –

Chris can feel an anxiety attack coming on; worrying that he’d failed their daughter without even knowing he was doing it is making it harder to breathe. He pauses, takes a deep breath, counts to ten.

 Okay, course of action. They need a plan, some way to talk to their daughter about this without too much blushing and awkward fumbling.

But first, he’ll have to wait for Darren. They’re a team, as cheesy as that sounds, and Chris doesn’t want to make decisions without him.

\--

Darren gets home from filming around his usual time. Chris is in the kitchen, at their dining table working on his screenplay lazily, waiting for him. The magazine is tucked underneath his thigh, wanting to be ready to have the conversation with Darren as soon as he gets home. Natasha gets home less than an hour after Darren from practice, so they don’t have time to waste.

“Chris?” Darren comes around the corner looking rumpled and tired but he lights up as soon as he sees Chris. Chris loses his breath, like always, as Darren comes around the table and moves the laptop from Chris’ hands to sit in his lap. And he kisses him, pressing their lips together lightly, and Chris tilts his head back so Darren has better access to sweep his tongue inside and around, re-familiarizing himself after a day of being apart. Chris wraps his arms around Darren’s waist, pulls him closer and decides to bask in it for a moment.

He’ll never get tired of being in love. And he never wants to rush, so he lets Darren kiss him lazily, arms tight around his shoulders as he presses impossibly close.

Darren grinds down, slips a hand down Chris’ stomach and to the opening of his pants, and that’s when Chris pulls back.

“I have something to talk to you about,” he says, breathing hard. Darren groans and drops his forehead against Chris’ shoulder.

“It can’t wait until we’re in bed tonight?” Darren practically whines, pawing at Chris’ stomach affectionately. “We don’t have very long until Natasha gets back from practice. We should – “

“It’s, um,” Chris cuts him off, hand slipping underneath his thigh to grip the magazine, “it’s actually about her.”

Chris stands up, depositing Darren off of his lap, onto the table, and dropping the magazine on next to him. Darren looks down at it and his eyes widen before he starts laughing, running a hand through his curls as he picks it up to look at it.

“Chris, you’ve been going through my underwear drawer again haven’t you?” Darren jokes, looking up to grinning at Chris.

Chris rolls his eyes, reaching out to hit him on the thigh where Darren’s sitting on the table. “Shut up, your underwear drawer is my underwear drawer you asshole. And there are no tits in there.”

Darren laughs harder, throwing his head back and squeezing his eyes shut.

Chris pouts, put out. “Darren! Stop laughing! I found it under her bed, this is a big deal!”

“It really isn’t, Chris,” Darren calms down to say, shaking his head as he looks back through the magazine. Darren nods appreciatively at a photo and Chris huffs, grabbing it from his hands and slamming it back on the chair he was sitting in.

“And what makes you say that?” Chris crosses his arms and gives Darren his best look of disbelief. Darren’s “Go with the Flow” attitude really drives him up the wall sometimes. “Do you give a shit about anything?”

Chris turns away from Darren, heads around the island to see if there’s anything he can have Darren cook for dinner. “You’re cooking steak,” he says without looking at Darren.

“Chris,” It’s soft, cautious, “Chris, look at me.”

Chris drops the package of steaks he’d been holding and looks up at Darren, his jaw clenched.

“Why are you upset?” Darren asks gently, turning Chris away from the counter to loop his arms around his waist and pout up at him. Chris’ arms hang limply at his sides, looking anywhere but at Darren.

“I just – “ Chris sighs, bringing a hand up to his face, “not everyone had or has it so easy as you when it comes to sexuality Darren. I would know…”

“I _know_ that Chris,” Darren says, and he brings a hand up to Chris’ jaw and turns his head down so they’re looking into each other’s eyes, Darren concerned and Chris hesitant. “I really do know that. But that’s not what’s bothering you,” Darren raises an eyebrow. “Tell me. We only have forty minutes until she gets back.”

“And I’m worried that – that _maybe_ she’s been struggling, and even if she hasn’t she hasn’t told us anything. Does she not think she can come to us? Did you know? Is it just me? Am I emotionally unavailable towards her? How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me?”

And Darren starts laughing again, loud and right against Chris’ chest, arms tightening around his hips. Chris rolls his eyes and lets him laugh, tries not to give in to Darren’s infectious laughter. He’s being silly he knows, but he can’t help it.

“No, I didn’t know, but babe – how much did you want to tell your parents at sixteen? I know I didn’t want to tell mine shit, and you know how bomb they are,” Darren says, still laughing as he looks up at Chris with glistening eyes.

“I _know_ but, like, I don’t want to be that parent – the one that has to find out their daughter’s into drugs by the school finding it in their locker. It sucks to be that parent. It sucks to have that kid.”

“You’re worried about her being into drugs? Chris – she’s a straight A student and volleyball and track and field star. She’s been enthusiastic about life since she was two and that’s never gone away. Just what the hell do you think could happen?”

“I _know_ but – “

“No buts. I know we still have to talk to her but she’s smart, and just because maybe she’s a lesbian or whatever doesn’t mean she’s suddenly a delinquent. You remember what it was like to be at that age – you told me yourself that you never wanted to tell your parents anything. Calm down.”

And the way Darren says it, like he’s just stating facts that Chris cannot dispute has Chris rocking back on his heels and biting his lip. Okay, so he’s overreacting. He tends to do that, sometimes. But that’s why he has Darren, exactly for this reason. To bring him back to Earth and help him see the reason he already knows is there.

“I love you,” Chris says, and dips his head down to kiss Darren hard, arms around his shoulders.

“Because I’m awesome, right?” Darren says after they pull back, smiling teasingly.

“Because you’re awesome,” Chris affirms, nodding.

The front door handle jiggles from around the corner and Chris slides his eyes over to where to magazine is still laying, trying to signal for Darren to get it. Darren looks at him, looks at the magazine and shrugs. And doesn’t make a move.

“ _Darren_ ,” Chris hisses, trying to nudge him but Darren shakes his head and smiles, pressing a finger to his lips.

“It’ll be way more fun this way,” he says as they hear Natasha shuffling in. Immediately Chris calls out, “If you leave your nasty ass cleats on the front carpet again you’ll still be waiting for a car _way_ past your seventeenth birthday.”   

Darren moves to the seat where the magazine is and sits down, casually flipping it open and Chris resists the urge to cackle. He hears her groan and, “Yes Papa,” before she shuffles into the kitchen, still in her uniform and sweaty. But smiling and Chris doesn’t think there’s anything besides her brilliant glow that could make him feel so happy to be a dad.

“Hey Nat,” Chris says, and gestures for her to come hug him, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her. She buries her face in his chest and, _god_ , Chris lives for these moments when it feels like this is their family and nothing can break it.

“Hi Papa, how was your day?” Natasha says, pulling back and beaming up at him. Her braces are a recent development, and he can still see the way her overbite and spaced front teeth make it hard for her to smile but she does it anyways. That’s a habit she got from Darren, always beaming like the sun was bright in her world.

“Amazing. Would you like to help me prepare the steaks for Darren to cook?“ He hands her the bowl of bloody meat and laughs at the way she wrinkles her nose, wrapping his arm across her shoulders.

And that’s when Darren interrupts with a loud cleared throat and, “Nat, baby girl, I don’t get any loves?”

Chris rolls his eyes at Darren but keeps his eyes on her face as she looks up from the meat and gives Darren the same grin before her eyes go wide and her face drains of all color as she sees what Darren is reading. Chris coughs, tries not to cackle too hard at her mortified expression.

“ _Dad_ …” She begins, but Darren cuts her off, raising his face to peak at her with a shit eating grin.

“Your father was doing some compulsive cleaning – “

“ _Hey_ ,” Chris warns petulantly but Darren ignores it.

“ – and he reached under your bed and lo and behold! I must say, you have excellent tastes. I too, am very fond of tits.”

This time Chris does cough, washing his hands and setting his palms on his still daughter’s shoulders to lead her to the table. “Darren, shut up, you’re creeping her out.”

Darren shrugs and sets the magazine down, still open to the page he was viewing, and Chris sees Natasha’s eyes attach to the magazine, unable to look away in her embarrassment. The color is coming back to her face in a rush, her complexion red and bright as she gnaws on her lip, a habit they all know she got from Chris.

“ _Oh God_ ,” she moans when Chris sits her in a chair next to the magazine and walks around to sit across from her. “ _Oh my god oh my god oh my g o d this is **not** happening – it’s a dream, I’m dreaming._ ”

Chris exchanges a look with Darren as she starts pinching her arms, apparently trying to wake up from the “dream.” Chris grabs the magazine and slides it under his thigh, predicting that it would only make things worse.

Darren grabs her hands from pinching herself and mumbles, “Hey,” in her direction. She startles at the words and looks up to gauge her parent’s expressions. Chris smiles encouragingly and lays a hand over where Darren is gripping hers.

“Please tell me this is a dream,” she squeaks, and Chris shakes his head apologetically.

“Sorry kid,” Darren says, leaning back. “This is very real and we have to talk about it.”

Chris nods and scoots his chair in, clears his throat awkwardly and looks up, asking for the will to do this painlessly. “First – uh. If you’re comfortable telling us, we need to know, are you – are you a lesbian?”

He looks down to see her blush again and shrug her shoulders demurely. “I don’t…I don’t know?”

Darren and Chris nod together. Chris continues, “Okay, that’s fine. You don’t have to know for sure, but thank you for telling us.” Chris is trying to keep his voice gentle so as to not startle her and it seems to be working as her eyes fully open and her shoulders relax inch by inch and she keeps talking.

“I mean…I like girls…a lot -- ”

Darren interrupts with, “ — me too…” and Chris glares at him, but not too harshly because he sees Natasha relax a bit more. She looks at Darren and keeps going, “…but I think I might still like boys…? But I don’t know if it’s like _that_. I don’t know if it ever was like that. But I mean, that doesn’t mean I’m a lesbian, does it? I still like guys, don’t I?”

Darren smiles gently and rubs her hands with his thumbs in a gesture Chris knows well. “Hey, look at me,” she raises her head back to look at Darren, eyes shining. “We can’t tell you that. No one can tell you that but you. Whatever you feel, towards whatever gender? You go with it, alright. Don’t let anyone label or box you in if you don’t want to be.”

Natasha hesitantly looks at Chris for confirmation and he quickly nods, smiling. Darren is so good at this stuff. He looks at Darren’s wedding ring and is reminded why he loves him. Because he’s looking at their daughter with the most sincere look, because he really _does_ care, he cares so much about them both, it’s clear as day in the way Darren looks at them. Chris tries to resist swooning.

“Now,” Chris sits up a little bit straighter, leans forward. “Are you sexually active at all?”

“With boys or girls?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chris shakes his head and pats her hand again.

“I, um. Yes.” She stutters, and Chris sees the blush come back.

“Are you being safe?” And Natasha opens her mouth to speak but Darren stops her with, “Nah, no. We all know you’re being safe so the real question here is: Are you using strawberry flavored condoms to _be_ safe? Or any type of flavor?”

Natasha giggles and looks away, and Chris takes the opportunity to flip Darren off. Darren just blows him a kiss, smiling.

“Natasha?” Chris prompts, and she looks back at him and nods.

Darren says, “Well I sincerely hope you’re not _only_ using strawberry flavored condoms. That’s boring. You could spice it up, there’s banana,” Darren winks, “or peach or any fruit and then there’s simply colored ones and then there’s glow in the dark – those ones are really fun – “

“Darren!” Chris shrieks as Natasha let’s out another peal of laughter, hiding her face in her hands as she cracks up.

“Sorry Dad, but I’ve only used regular ones. Sorry to disappoint,” She says through her laughter.

“Okay, okay,” Chris says, trying to steer her back on track. “What about with girls? Are you being safe then? Because diseases can still be transmitted through oral – “

“Which, by the way, that’s something you should never slack in,” Darren interrupts again and Chris kicks him but he rattles on, “Come on Chris. I mean, we know she’s being safe and having sex so we may as well make sure she’s _good_ at it.”

“Dad – ugh. I don’t need tips,” She blushes and takes her hands away, still smiling.

“Well, I have one you’ll need,” Chris surprises himself by saying. “I want you to promise me that if you are ever with a guy who says the condom is too big to wear that you will _run_. Because that is _bullshit_ , and he’s trying to take advantage of you. _Please_ be safe, honey. I know you’re smart but – I worry.”

“I know Darren is being a dumbass but you can always come to us, for anything at all. We love you more than anything else, sweetheart, and if something happened to you we wouldn’t know what to do.”

Darren nods seriously and she nods at them both, pushing back her chair and standing up. “I’ll remember Papa, thank you. And, thanks Dad, though you weren’t really any help.”

Darren grins and says, “my pleasure,” throwing his arms behind his head. Chris kicks him again.

“Can I go?” Her eyes dart towards the door to the hallway.

“Hey now, you still haven’t given me hugs,” Darren pouts, sitting up. Chris’ heart swells at the sight of their daughter tucking herself into Darren’s chest and Darren resting his head on hers. Darren has this blissful smile on his lips and he opens his eyes and blows another kiss to Chris which Chris teasingly catches and presses to his face.

He hears Natasha mumble something about her “awkward dad’s,” before she’s walking away. Only to have Darren stop her with, “Wait, don’t you want the magazine?”

Chris looks up, glares at Darren and hears Natasha’s bedroom door slam shut.

“Darren will be done cooking dinner in an hour! Be clean by then!”

And Chris smirks at Darren, reaching for the counter and throwing spices at Darren, “Get to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> so sorry for mistakes! (:


End file.
